HELD GEAR IS NEAR

GLOVE LOVE

Macropus giganteus may be nothing but a big pest to you, but when it comes time for some new motorcyclin' gloves you'll be glad for his promiscuous mating habits. As everyone knows, there are over 40 species of kangaroo, but Held uses only the hides of the raunchy giganteus in its gloves. Also the hair sheep (the product of a sheep and a goat falling in love in a mountainous region of Africa), and the Pittards leather from England (where mating of any kind is cause for celebration all by itself).

Sorry. What we're trying to say is that Intersport Fashions West has taken over marketing Germany's number one glove in the United States, which makes Held's very nice gloves a bit more accessible to the masses than in years past. The Germans are pretty fastidious when it comes to anything involving motorsports or safety, and so Held gloves get the double quality whammy. Bruno Held built his first glove in 1923, supposedly for mountaineering--and it's been downhill ever since (tip your waitresses).

We could go on for hours about various details, but that would be redundant all over again, because all the info we've got can be found at http://www2.motorcycle.com/cgi-bin/redirector?www.held-usa.com. I, Johnius, have been wearing a pair of #2220 Ninja sportbike gloves for a week or two, with Pittards palms and cowhide backs. For $99.95, they are very nice, but not quite as supple and tactile as Held's upmarket kangaroo models. The new "Akira", for instance, is the dog's bollocks if you can scrape up $189.95.

I could not go on without my magnetic tank bag, of which I have worn out several over the years.

Just like with a good helmet, fit is the name of the game--and all the Held models come in quite a few more sizes than the typical S,M and L offered by many glove makers. To find your size, wrap a tape measure around the base of your four fingers. Your glove size is that distance in inches. Snug is good, the gloves will stretch a tad as you break them in. Ah, yesss.

MAGNETIC CLING

I could not go on without my magnetic tank bag, of which I have worn out several over the years. When you get to where you're going, you grab your bag and go. Fuel stops, too, are much easier when you don't have to fool with straps. And here comes Held again, rethinking the whole thing. Held offers three different-sized tank bags, each of which can be zipped to one of three different magnetic bases. The Super Magnet base doesn't have the big side flaps that hide the beauty of your ZRX1200's fuel tank, and those are some strong magnets; can't find enough speed to make it fly off. Two thumbs up. Sad that Elliot the Intern absconded with it to Seattle, but then he did earn it didn't he?

BACKPACKI'm not normally a backpack guy, but this is a nice backpack. Its three-point harness means it stays in place, and there's even a big helmet-storage pouch that pops out like my tongue after five minutes on a dirt bike--which is a nice idea if your bike has no helmet lock (which is stupid). Very nice, and only $69.95

Did I already say, find out more at held-usa.com. There's a dealer locator there, too.